


Embarrassing Bravery

by WhereAreTheBreaks



Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff, Investigations, Love Confessions, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-13 04:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4507530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhereAreTheBreaks/pseuds/WhereAreTheBreaks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Uh, Stretch? We're about to have company?" He started to back towards her, keeping an eye on the area the foot steps seemed to be coming from. </p><p>"Just a sec. I think I found something." She leaned down over the pile and knocked a few things out of the way.</p><p>"Unless it's a trap door that'll give us a quick escape, I don't think it's going to have the chance to do much good."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First fic in this fandom! 
> 
> No beta so all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

"Kirsten." Cameron called out as she stalked away from the car and towards the high fence that stood between her and a maybe probable clue. "Kirsten I really don't think we should be doing this." He closed his own car door and chased after her when she didn't respond.

They were out by some abandoned warehouse on the edge of town and honestly he'd just stopped asking questions at this point. She got to see all of these things that he never would, so when she said that she needed to be driven to this potentially dangerous place he was perfectly content to volunteer his car and time for the cause. It was all in the name of justice after all. 

Okay, maybe there was more to his motivations than just justice. But come on, catching the killers was definitely pretty freaking awesome. 

Anyway, they'd come to the warehouse because Kirsten had seen something in the stitch that led her to believe that there was something fishy about the warehouse that had to be investigated immediately. The usual, in other words. But, unfortunately there was a gate surrounding the boarded up building- something about being a private company shut down after some unsaviory dealings and manufacturing, he didn't really listen all that well at the time. And though there wasn't exactly an abundance of people milling around, Cameron couldn't stop looking over his shoulder as Kirsten easily climbed the fence. 

"Kirsten." He pleaded quietly one more time.

All she did was cock an eyebrow and turn away from him. "You're more skitish than a cat today." She stated in her usual dry and calm tone. Then, it was back to the whole walking away thing.

"Well I don't break into buildings everyday." He gave a resigned sigh and pulled himself up and over the fence to join her. 

"It's an abandoned building and besides if anyone is close enough to see us then I doubt they're going to care much." She had a point.

The building was a little ways away from the road, not close enough for someone to notice anything if they were just passing through. No doubt someone would also have to be breaking in to notice anything to report to the proper authorities. Realizing that she was right and going to go ahead with her plans regardless of whether or not he approved, he figured it would probably be better for all parties if he just tagged along. 

"Fine." He sighed and gestured for her to continue on. All Kirsten did was roll her eyes and walk off with a swish of her ponytail. Cameron glanced around them one more time, for paranoia's sake, then followed her into the building.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" He asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll know it when I see it."

So he was of absolutely zero use. Great. He could only watch as Kirsten swept through the room and wonder if this was how companions felt when traveling with the Doctor; totally in awe of his abilities and totally useless because they were unable to help with thing they didn't yet understand. Because Kirsten made him feel those things and more all the time. 

He watched her walk around the room and listened to her describe something she'd seen in one of the memories that she was only sharing with him. She was looking at a pile of stuff, things probably left by a homeless person, in the far corner of the building. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she looked for... whatever it was. And of course, because the investigation wasn't difficult enough, that's when Cameron jumped a little when he heard foot steps.

"Uh, Stretch? We're about to have company?" He started to back towards her, keeping an eye on the area the foot steps seemed to be coming from. 

"Just a sec. I think I found something." She leaned down over the pile and knocked a few things out of the way.

"Unless it's a trap door that'll give us a quick escape, I don't think it's going to have the chance to do much good." He looked worriedly back at her as the footstepped got louder. Somewhat hesitantly, Kirsten grabbed his forearm and gently pulled him the rest of the way back.

"How did I know that you two would be here?" Fisher called out as he turned the corner.

"How'd you find us?" Cameron asked. They hadn't told anyone where they were going, in fact Cameron didn't even know where they were going until they'd arrived. 

Fisher just gave Cameron a look that said 'you've got to be kidding me'. "Your shiny convertable isn't exactly subtle."

Which, okay, fair point. 

"Where you _following us_?" Kirsten asked incredulously. When Cameron glanced over his shoulder at her he saw that her eyes where narrowed and her arms were crossed over her chest.

He looked over at Fisher with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. "Careful detective or this might become a habit."

Fisher just scoffed and rolled his eyes at the reference to the night outside the club. "Maggie told me to keep an eye on you two. That's what I'm doing."

"Well, we're done here." Kirsten remarked and dragged Cameron away before he was able to so much as stutter. Fisher didn't follow as Kirsten and he climbed into his car.

"So what did you find?" He asked as he started the car and pulled out onto the road. 


	2. Chapter 2

Kirsten was already standing in the elevator when he jogged up to her and stepped in before the doors had the chance to close. Cameron couldn't keep the victorious smile off of his face. They'd caught the killer, some former employee not happy with something that someone had done that had landed him jobless. They'd done the big wrap up and talked to Maggie. (Which was interesting to say the least.) She has never been very pleased about two of the most valuable people in the program going out on 'little adventures'- as she liked to call them. Which was ridiculous because those 'little adventures were the reason they were able to catch killers. You can't argue with results, though some have tried. 

"Wanna go back to my apartment and revel in our victory? We can invite Camille and Linus." His excitement was bleeding into his voice but he tried to make the offer sound as enticing as possible because any extra time with Kirsten was something Cameron tried not to pass up on. 

"Yeah, why not." She sounded completely indifferent but it was something that Cameron had long since gotten used to. "I'll text Camille." She whipped out her phone to do just that.

"Wow, could you try to sound a little more enthusiastic?"

She just gave him a look and went back to typing on her phone. Her hair was starting to come out of her usually neat ponytail and her clothes were a little wrinkled from having to _run for their lives_. Despite the afternoon activities she seemed entirely unruffled as per usual. 

Nothing ever affected her. 

"Camille wants to know if you had anything specific in mind?" She asked after her phone went off, presumably with Camille's answer. 

"I don't know; maybe some take out and a movie. Just some chillin out." He shrugged. "Or, you know, whatever." Honestly, he'd do almost absolutely anything to make Kirsten happy. If she wanted to watch a chick flick an braid each others hair he would probably pull up YouTube and learn how to braid so long as it made her smile. 

Okay, so he might have it bad for her. And alright, a couple of other people might have taken notice of it because it's kind of glaringly obvious. Some people being almost everybody, but mainly Camille and Linus have taken to teasing him. Oh how they gave him looks whenever Kirsten was around.

She chuckled quietly at him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Yeah sure, you'll give me a ride right?" They both knew that she already knew that the answer would always be yes. And not just because she couldn't drive. 

"Course," He replied and smiled at her. She gave him an easy smile in reply and moved the subject back to plans. 

"Are you and Linus planning on gaming? 'Cause if you are then I need to stop by my house for my laptop."

"Oh ha ha. You're just mad because you know you'd lose if you ever played against us." Cameron teased, not noticing the growing challenge in her eyes. 

"You think that you and Linus working as a team could beat Camille and me?" She crossed her arms over her chest and a smile played at her lips as she cocked her head to the side. 

"Yeah. I mean, I've never seen you guys play. And we've had plenty of game nights so there really is no excuse." Cameron crossed his own arms and raised an eyebrow of his own, daring her to say other wise. Cameron was pretty sure he would know if the girl he liked was into gaming. 

"Well I hope you're ready to get your asses kicked tonight." Kirsten accepted the unspoken challenge with some small sense of glee. But that only had Cameron a little worried. 

The elevator doors opened with a ding and they were released back into the world. It wasn't until they were climbing into Cameron's car that conversation resumed.

"So what kind of take out should we get?" He asked as he slid into the front seat and moved to start the car. "We can do anything you want. Chinese, Italian, Pizza, whatever your heart desires."

"Chinese is fine." Kirsten replied without looking up from her phone. 

And so he started driving to his apartment, there was a great Chinese place a couple of blocks away and by the time the order is ready and delivered, everyone should be there. It was a total win. 

The drive is oddly quiet, Kirsten isn't a chatty Cathy by any means but she definitely isn't _this_ quiet. She's still doing something on her phone, he noted from the corner of his eyes. Whatever it is, it had managed to capture her full attention. 

"Whatcha doin, Cupcake?" He took less than a second to look over at her once they reach a red light.

"Oh you know, just reading up on something. Nothing you'd be interested in I'm sure." She smiles at him in a way that he finds completely unnerving. It's all... weird and not her usual kind of smile. 

"Well, if you insist." He muttered, but something about it made him nervous. 

And since Kirsten's being so quiet and focused, Cameron turned on the radio to help drown out the silence. 

The sun's was in the process of setting so the streets were just starting to light up with the neon of all the signs and Cameron loves the city like this. The glamorous lights and the dwindling crowds because of the brief lull before the club goers come out. It's nice and kind of relaxing. 

"Camille and Linus say they aren't coming." Kirsten suddenly said, startling Cameron a little. "Something has suddenly come up for both of them."

"Well isn't that nice and vague."

Kirsten just hums her agreement and went back to whatever she was doing before the interuption. "I guess it'll just be you and me tonight."

Oh the horror, spending time alone with Kirsten. What ever will he do? Enjoy it obviously. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I hope I'm doing these characters justice.


	3. Chapter 3

His apartment was neat, modern, and sleek at first glance. The furniture all matched and looked brand new and the kitchen was state of the art because he actually really enjoyed cooking, and, again, because he really could not emphasize this enough, everything was clean. People had told him that all those things didn't really mesh with the idea of his apartment. Basically, he was a massive nerd and they all expected to see nerdy stuff lining the walls, not warm welcoming rooms that looked like that could have come straight out of a catalogue, tasteful art, and tables devoid of take out containers. But then they got closer and they saw the complete Harry Potter and Lord Of the Rings series on his shelf shoved between a few programming books. They saw the rows of movies like Star Wars and Star Trek and Pacific Rim and the gaming consoles on the shelves. Then it was more like the apartment that everyone expected to see. 

"Make yourself at home." He gestured widely around him to the chairs and couch that Kirsten had already spent a lot of time on because of cases and movie/game nights. When he saw her making her way to a chair, eyes still glued to her phone screen, he escaped briefly into his room to change into more lounge appropriate clothing. 

He pretty much just put pajamas on and called it a day. Some soft, worn out sweat pants and a loose fitting navy blue shirt and he was ready to game all night. He stopped to wonder if Kirsten might want to borrow some clothes to be comfortable but decided against it in the end.

The sun was almost completely down when he walked back into the living room, so he turned on a small lamp far away from the TV as he walked by so they had at least some light to navigate. It cast a soft yellow glow over things and just made things like walking a little bit easier. 

Kirsten looked up from where she was stretched out on his couch with her flats kicked off at the sound of his approach and smiled at him, finally slipping her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. "Are you ready to get you ass kicked?" She sounded confident and cocky, and sat up straighter so he had a little more room to sit. 

"So sure that you're going to win, Princess?" He was pretty sure that she didn't even know how to play the game. She shouldn't have sounded as confident as she did.

"Oh absolutely. You see, I've spent the past," She pause for a moment to think. "Let's say thirty minutes, reading all about the rules and cheat codes and special moves, basically anything I could get my hands on. I'd say I'm more than prepared to take you on."

"I'll believe it when I see it, Princess." He smirked and plopped the disc into the console. Before he oh so gracefully flopped down onto the opposite end of the couch as Kirsten, he grabbed them both controllers and suddenly it was on. 

 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

 

Cameron stared blankly at the screen. There were no words or weird references for what had just happened. His world had been up turned and there was no fixing it, no going back. 

Kirsten not only knew how to game, she was good at it. He didn't know what exactly it was that she'd read but all of a sudden he felt like the newb. She'd been... amazing, and the trash talk, while limited, just wow.

"I'm sorry if that too easy for your delicate gamer sensibilities." She said after a moment. She stretched out on his couch, her feet landed in his lap, her expression smug as she took notice of his disbelieving expression. "I just needed to get a feel for everything, we can do something with a higher difficulty level if you want."

He still wasn't at the point where words were a possibility because _oh my god. She was amazing._

"Cameron." She sounded a little put out and tired as she looked him over. He was, without a doubt, gaping like a fish. She gestured to the tv and the flashing GAME OVER on the screen, silently asking him to start a new game.

Another minute passed by. "Cameron?" She was starting to sound a little worried at that point. Her brows furrowed in concern and she set down her controller then leaned over the small space that separated them, she reached out- to do what, he wasn't sure. Her hand was warm on his arm and it seemed to snap him back to the present.

And then he did the unthinkable. He blurted out: "God, I think I love you."

He just blurted it out while sitting on the couch in his pajamas whilst surrounded by take out containers. He was totally and completely shocked by his own outburst and watched as Kirsten's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short!

Her wide brown eyes searched his own and her hand slid off of his arm. "I-I didn't know, uh, that you felt that way." She ran a hand over her messily pulled back hair and looked down at her lap.

"I shouldn't have said anything." Cameron shifted away from her and gently pushed her feet off of his lap as he stood. "I really _really_ shouldn't have said anything." God he'd messed everything up, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut could he? 

A cocktail of emotions crossed over Kirsten's face- confusion, hurt, distress- and while he hated the fact that he was the cause he really didn't want to hang around to hear the gentle rejection he knew was coming. Except they were at his apartment, there's no where to run when you're already home. Obviously, hiding out in his room until she got the hint was the best course of action. 

He moved to put his thoughts into action and Kirsten leaped off the couch to follow him. 

"Cameron, wait," She pleaded from only a couple of steps behind him. Damn her long legs for allowing her to easily catch up to him when he was trying to make a clean break.

"I know what you're gonna say, Kirsten. I've been hearing it pretty much all my life and I'd really rather not hear it from you." His hands flailed around exaggeratedly, like they usually did when he got worked up. Cameron finally reached the safety of his room and shut the door. He made no move to lock it though, he wouldn't deny her access if she really wanted it.

 He just needed some time to think about everything.

Kirsten sighed on the other side and there was a dull thump, presumably as she moved to lean against the door. "Can we please just talk about this like the reasonable and mature adults we are most of the time?"

It wasn't so much that he didn't want to hear what she had to say, it was more that he was worried about what she felt. She'd talked about having to learn emotions from q-cards and finally being able to understand emotions because of stitching but he was worried that she might not feel anything for him. He cared about he so much, wanted to protect her from everything he could, but what if she didn't feel the same.

"If it's all the same the same to you, could we just not do this right now," Cameron inquired and leaned his forehead against the cool metal of the sliding door. 

She sighed, the sound muffled by the door. "I'll give you time if that's what you need."

Relief poorer over him and at the same time he was filled with dread. He didn't want he to go but he didn't want her to stay and talk because talking had never ended well for him in the past. Cameron was nerdy and didn't have the build girls usually went for and time and time again he'd been rejected and left behind and he really didn't want that to happen with Kirsten. He almost wished he could take everything back and just be friends, he'd rather be friends with her than nothing at all.

He listened to her leave and wanted nothing more than to throw the door open and chase after her, but he just couldn't. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait things got a little hectic.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> This chapter is from Kirsten's point of view.

Kirsten didn't understand why Cameron wouldn't let her speak. _God, I think I love you,_ it echoed in her mind. The scene replayed and the more she thought about it the more she realized something. _I love you too_ had been right there, on the tip of her tongue. And then it replied to the echo as she replayed everything over in her mind with the usual amount of clarity.

But then he ran, said he needed time, like that was a concept she understood. She didn't even get the chance to tell him that the fear and panic that he had written all over his face didn't matter because she felt the same. It was okay though, she could wait.

Kirsten stepped out onto the mostly empty street and managed to quickly hail a taxi. She gave the driver her address while she climbed in and almost immediately went back to her thoughts. 

Now that she realized her feelings, the intense connection that she'd always known to be there suddenly seemed more intense than ever. She wanted nothing more than to run back into his apartment and tell him everything. She couldn't though and that made her stomach twist into knots.

She'd spent so much time learning to recognize other people's emotions, maybe it was time she took the night and true to learn her own. When it can to Cameron there was just so much to review, he made her feel so many things. He made her feel things that she'd never thought she would be able to experience, even with stitching. 

The remainder of the taxi ride back to her house passed in a blur while Kirsten stared unseeing out the window, completely lost in thought. 

 

Upon arriving at the house, Kirsten didn't say or see anything. She walked the path to her room on muscle memory and gingerly sat down on the edge of her bed after she closed her bedroom door with a soft click. It felt as though everything she knew had changed but simultaneously nothing had. As if that wasn't confusing enough, her brain couldn't seem to stop replaying the moment that Cameron had blurted those words out. It was completely maddening.

She threw herself back onto the pile of pillows behind her with a frustrated huff. Kirsten threw an arm over her eyes and let herself sink into her bed. 

There was a soft knock at the door.

"What?" Kirsten asked none too politely. She looked over at the door and waited for it to open, brows furrowed in annoyance. 

Camille poked her head through the barely opened door with a nervous smile. "

"I tried to talk to you came in but you just barged on through me."

"I have a lot on my mind right now," Kirsten stated primly.

"What? Is it Cameron?" Camille already sounded tired of the subject and Kirsten hadn't even gotten started.

"Yes," Kirsten's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How did you know?"

Camille stood a little straighter in the doorway and her well sculpted eyebrows flew up her forehead.

"Really?" She asked with a growing crazed smile. "I was just joking but now I have to know more."

"It's nothing," Kirsten tries to assure. Camielle just stood in the doorway and waited, staring at Kirsten expectantly. "It's just that... Cameron said something and now I don't know what to say or what I feel. It's very confusing."

Finally, Camille pushes off of the doorway and moved to sit next to her on the bed. 

"What happened?" Camille asked, concern laced in her voice. "What did he say?"

Kirsten immediately launched into a detailed account of everything that had happened in the past hour. It all felt surprisingly good to get everything off of her chest, watching Camille's reactions made Kirsten feel oddly reassured. Like she wasn't absolutely crazy for wanting to talk things out.


End file.
